The Kanto finance bureau of Japan’s Ministry of Finance (MoF) has updated its warning list to caution potential investors against trading with Infin Markets Limited. The firm cited has either made solicitations or offered its services online in Japan and/or in Japanese while not being permitted to do so as customers in this case are not afforded the protections available to firms properly licensed and regulated in the country.
The firms on Kanto’s list may have Regulation in other jurisdictions, but this is not sufficient as no such passports are recognised and firms need to also obtain JFSA authorization in order to do business in Japan.
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This was the case with Infin Markets which is already a fully regulated brokerage in Cyprus. According to its website: “Infin Markets Limited is a CIF (Cyprus Investment Firm) registered under the number HE 276909. It is licensed by the CySEC (Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission) under the license number 147/11. Infin Markets Limited is also a member of the ICF (Investment Compensation Fund) for Clients of CIFs (Cyprus Investment Firms).”
However, while the broker is regulated with the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC), it is not registered in Japan and does therefore not have the permission to conduct business in the country.
The Japanese watchdog confirmed that registration under the Financial Instruments and Exchange Act is required in principle, even for overseas operators, for offering financial instruments for Japanese residents or for transacting with them as counterparties.
The agency noted that the information used in the warnings was obtained from solicitation materials, and therefore may be inaccurate. In addition, investors are able to check on the Japanese Financial Services Authority (JFSA) website to confirm if a company is registered and regulated in the country.
